


Christmas Eve will find me (where the love light gleams)

by elle_ish



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Barebacking, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Drinking, Established Relationship, Everyone is over age, Explicit Sexual Content, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, If You Squint - Freeform, M/M, Minor Matt Holt/Shiro, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Pidge is a total bro, Porn With Plot, klance, major fluff, poor lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 04:32:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8735020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elle_ish/pseuds/elle_ish
Summary: Keith has never received a Christmas present. Lance decides to do something about it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> 1) I'm a major cornball who secretly loves heavy amounts of cheesy fluff  
> 2) I freaking adore Frank Sinatra and Christmas, hello inspiration  
> 3) I really just wanted to try writing a longer explicit sex scene without shying away from the heavy details, but plot became a huge thing. Please let me know how I did? Nervous >.< haha
> 
> Also, why the hell can't I ever write anything short?!
> 
> To anyone reading this, thank you and I hope you enjoy!! :)

Lance got the inane idea at Pidge’s Christmas Party. Finals had just ended and Lance had two more days before he flew home to spend the rest of his Holidays with his family. He promised Keith he’d be home in time for New Years, knowing his boyfriend wouldn’t be going anywhere and was just going to be cooped up in their little apartment all day. Keith had two jobs to help pay the rent during the school year, but sadly neither of these jobs weren't open Christmas day, meaning Keith would likely be spending it alone.

Lance didn’t like to admit how much it hurt when he thought about this, and ultimately decided that a lengthy Skype call that would probably turn dirty would have to suffice.

Lance took a sip of his beer, talking to Hunk about the stupid exam question for his 423 Bio Course – The Biology of Marine Invertebrates, since Lance had future goals of one day becoming a marine biologist. 

“There was only one question, Hunk. One! And it was ‘ _How have selected marine invertebrates responded to challenges imposed by the diverse marine environment over evolutionary history of life on this planet?’_ Dude. That was the whole course! That was literally what the synopsis said in our syllabus!” 

“Isn’t that a good thing? I mean, you could talk a out anything.” Hunk shrugged, placing his hoppy IPA on the counter and cracking his knuckles. 

“Exactly. Anything and everything! I tried to rewrite every single goddamn lecture and lab into that three hour essay.” He complained aggressively, shoulders tense and rigid.

Hunk made a face, no longer enjoying the idea of that exam and thinking it to be easy.

Pidge swooped in from the side, almost completely hammered and nearly swaying as she placed herself between her bros. Lance figured she was lucky that the party was at least in her shared apartment with Allura. Pidge wouldn’t have to make too far of a trek to get to her bed. Just up a single flight of stairs…. Which Lance was a little worried she wouldn’t even make it to at this point.

“How are you doing, buddy?” Hunk laughed, placing a hand on her shoulder for support.

She smiled widely, and took a sip from the water bottle she held in her hand. Always the genius, that one. 

“Dude, I think I aced that Molecular Endocrinology exam!” She exclaimed enthusiastically, turning to Lance with a sly grin. “I was a little worried at first, since I wasn’t sure what Dr. Kyung wanted. She always threw surprises into her tests….”

Lance smiled back at her, but had already figured as much. Pidge had taken that course as a GPA booster. Pidge, a Physics major with a minor in Computer Science, had one elective, and had decided to use it on the one mandatory class that Lance knew he’d definitely have trouble in, and would more than likely fail. She said they’d be study partners, and even if Pidge was the most enthusiastic albeit most terrifying study partner in the whole goddamn world, the little genius definitely saved his final grade. 

Hunk congratulated her, sipping his own bottle and turned back to Lance. “Yeah, I think I have to redo my Topics in Matrix Theory and Linear Algebra again...” The Hawaiian boy said with a flustered sigh. “I just can’t seem to get what Dr. Trior wants…” 

“Awh man, again?” Lance asked pitifully, placing a comforting hand on Hunk’s shoulder. He knew how much Hunk hated Matrix Mathematics, being the one to sit with him daily in the library or cafeteria while Hunk complained loudly and ate away his emotions. “I’m sorry dude.”

“Well, it’s better than having to redo Abstract Algebra with Dr. Kelton. He’s just a dick.” Pidge pointed out, taking another chug of her bottled water. Allura bounced by, her first glass of red wine from earlier still in her hand. “There you guys are! What are you doing just standing around talking about school? Classes are over! Live a little!”

Lance rolled his eyes, but cheered his beer with her glass nonetheless. “Ironic, considering who’s saying that Allura. Did you even leave the library before finals were over?”

Allura offered a dirty look, but decided she couldn’t really defend herself. Lance was almost completely right. She had only left the library to get food, go to the gym, and twice to go home and sleep in an actual bed. Otherwise, Allura had pulled all nighters and spent her time on the library floor until her exams finished. She was on the honour roll for a reason, and had a full scholarship to look after, but only if she kept up her grades. She figured these reasons and pressures were probably why most of her food in the fridge had gone bad over the last few weeks…

“Well, what do you expect?” She argued. “The library is open 24 hours during exams, I had to make the most of it!” She cheered on, drinking a bit more of her dry merlot.

Pidge straightened herself, looking towards her older roommate . “Oh yeah, Allura, that reminds me! Now that you’re here, when are you coming back for second semester? I need to know if I have to ring Mr. Davis’s apartment, or if I can just ring up here when I come back to be let in.”

Allura offered a confused look to Pidge.

“Remember?” Pidge slurred while drawing out her sentence. “Mr. Davis from across the hall is taking my keys for the Holidays, since someone has to feed our cat while we’re away.” Allura offered an understanding expression, clapping her hands together and almost knocking over her wine as she did so.

“Coming back?” Hunk asked out loud, a little behind on the girls’ conversation. He grabbed another full beer from the fridge and popped it open, moving along with his friends to the small living room near the entrance. They could at least all sit down on the furniture there. It was a nice apartment, even if it was obviously owned by students, given how old and ratty some of the cheap furniture was. It was comfortable though, that much was telling.

“Yes, I’m visiting my Uncle Coran in New Zealand with my Father during the break.” Allura explained, tugging a loose strand of her long white hair behind her ear. “Apparently they’re working at the University to study the thermodynamic and kinetic approaches to sentiment formations. They have to go out into the field to do an analysis during the week I’m there. It’ll be so much fun!” She smiled widely, brushing away everyones simultaneous looks of confusion.

“She’s going over there to study rocks.” Shiro jokingly explained as he came into the room, a flushed looking Keith trailing right behind him. Shiro placed himself right beside Allura and Pidge on the couch. Hunk sat on an old chair in the corner, while Keith sat cross-legged on the ground beside Lance. As soon as he sat himself on the thick carpet, his fingers found Lances, entangling them with his own. Keith turned to his boyfriend of almost a year and placed a not so gentle kiss on his flushed cheek.

Lance laughed, letting out a small ‘get out of here, mullet,” before he brushed his boyfriend's hair out of his face playfully. Lance just smiled, looking with full and mildly drunken adoration towards Keith’s abashed features.

“What are you doing for the Holidays, Pidge?” Shiro asked with interest, turning everyone away from the grossly love-struck couple.

Pidge offered a knowing smile. “Why? Wanna know what Dr. Holt and _Mattttt_ are getting up to during the holidays?” She teased with a raise of her eyebrow. Shiro and Matt had been best friends from the beginning of their middle school days, and had even gone through most of their University career together. But while Shiro entered the first year of his graduate program, Matt took off to work as an understudy for his Dad for the year. Shiro had been rather hurt, realizing for the first time what life could be like without his best friend there by his side, and that was a scary thought to admit. Shiro blushed at Pidge’s prompt, but tried to ignore the rising teases from his friends, who seemed to see more than just a kindling friendship. 

“Oh hush now. I was just making conversation.” Shiro smiled, drinking his expensive bottle of craft beer.

Pidge, suddenly and quite randomly, decided to move from the couch onto the floor opposite of Lance and Keith. However, during this move she never lost focus, which continued to remain on Shiro's discomfort and her own drink. “You guys still talk, like, every day.”

Shiro let out a hesitant, ‘ _not everyday’_ that Pidge rolled her eyes to and promptly ignored. “You talk to him more than I do, shouldn’t you be telling me what he's doing?” She expected some sort of retort, but Shiro only winked at her from behind his bottle. She sighed.

“Well, I’m going home for the holidays, so nothing exciting on this end.” Hunk shouted out, almost a little pathetically. Lance picked up on his unenthused expression for going home, knowing Hunk didn’t have a lot of friends in Maui. He placed a kind hand on his friend’s muscled shoulder, rubbing over it gently.

“There, there big guy. You’re not alone. I’m just going home too. So nothing too exciting on my end, either.” Lance tried to reassure. He felt Keith’s body lean on him a little more at the mention of him leaving, but Lance tried to brush it off on the alcohol. 

“Yeah, says the guy with like, 8 immediate family members and 10 relatives coming to visit.”

Lance grimaced at the thought of his entire family underneath one roof for an entire week and a bit. It was truly terrifying. “Yeah, I’m really hoping they’re not all expecting gifts, or else I’ll have to bake again. Dammit I hate baking, they just better not all be expecting presents! I can’t afford that much right now.” Lance threw out his arms theatrically and let his face fall into the palms of his hands, an aggressive groan permitting from behind his parted fingertips.

Keith giggled and settled further into Lances side, offering some more warmth as he drew unseen pictures against Lance’s skin.

Lance turned to Keith, a warm smile on his face as he watched the other tipsily draw away, not even noticing the looks he was receiving. His longer hair fell gracefully over his violet eyes and against his flushed cheeks. Lance moved a few of the strands out of the way and behind Keith’s ear, but they didn’t stay, and instead fell forward again.

“You doing okay, babe?” 

“Huh?” Keith spoke up, his mouth in a perfect ‘ _Oh_ ’ shape, before nodding his head. “Yeah,” Keith said gently.

Lance laughed and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“Gross.” Pidge uttered.

“Get a room.” Hunk and Shiro simultaneously said.

Allura just snickered.

“You guys get a room!” Was Lance’s very witty comeback. He groaned at his friends teasing faces.

Pidge chuckled, turning to Keith who still watched absentmindedly from the sidelines, always one to prefer observing the party than partaking in the events. “And how was finals for you, Mr-I-Only-Took-Two-Classes-So-I-Could-Work-Fulltime?” 

“Hey!” Keith spat out. “I told you, I just didn’t know what I wanted to do anymore, so I’m taking it easy this year, academic wise. Might as well not spend all that money on school for nothing….”

“You say four years into your academic career,” Pidge coughed out, turning away and drinking some more of her water.

“And you’re taking next semester off too?” Allura questioned while interrupting Pidge, scooting forward towards the edge of her seat.

Keith nodded, his fingers twisting around his now empty cooler. He went to take a drink from it, but realized with shame that it was completely empty. He openly pouted, and Lance quickly moved behind himself, stretching out his hand and grabbing his backpack from the doorway. He lifted another cooler from its opening, and twisted the cap, giving the opened bottle to Keith. The shorter male blushed, but thanked Lance before drinking a little bit and answering Allura’s question.

“Mhmm. I’ll just be working days at the studio. And then nights at the pub.”

“Wait, what?! So we won’t be teaching together anymore in the spring?!” Shiro shouted in protest, almost dropping his expensive craft beer onto the carpeted floor. He could already see Allura ready to pounce on him if he did. That girl did not appreciate a mess.

“I’ll still be teaching Thursday nights with you, Shiro, and Saturday mornings. But not anything else. Sorry, Shiro, I know how much you enjoyed getting your ass kicked in Taekwondo.” Keith admitted with a confident wink. 

“My ass kicked?” Shiro spoke out incredulously, placing a hand to his puffed out chest and pointing accusingly towards Keith. “I think you’re mistaken there, buddy. I seem to remember beating your ass in Judo and Jutjutsu. So hah!”

Keith blinked. “But that’s not fair, I never trained in Jutjusu. Also they’re both completely different fighting styles from Taekwondo, more indirect and slower. That’s boring!”

“Boring?! They’re skillful, and take real patience to train, that’s why you can’t-“

“Annnd I’m stopping this!” Pidge announced emphatically, taking control of the room. “We’re going to play a drinking game!” She said, grabbing a deck of cards from the fuck out of nowhere and placed them on the coffee table everyone sat around with a dull thud.

“What, Pidge?!”

“No,”

“How about we don’t?"

“Yeah, lets not.”

“Dude, we’re all over 21, not 18. We can’t play that.”

“Oh come on!” Pidge argued back to her disinterested and boring friends. “It’s only 11:30 on the night after finals. We still have all night and all day tomorrow to recover before we leave. Why not?” 

“Why don’t we just talk? And drink if you’re so keen on it.” Lance winked, poking Pidge’s side teasingly. She grimaced, attempting to whack Lance back but failing miserably, and instead brushing past the air next to his shoulder. 

“Oh, curse my short arms!”

The group fell into a sullen silence, regarding the Christmas lights the girls had put up for decorations. They had a DIY Christmas tree made out of cheap scrap wood hanging against the wall, dangling lights and tinsel covering the decorations and pictures hanging from the ‘trees’ branches. Lance was sure it had been Allura who had found the craft on Pinterest, forcing Pidge to help her make it. That type of thing had always been Allura’s doing.

“I’m really excited to see my family,” Allura sighed out, looking at the last little bit of her wine.

“Yeah, I am too.” Lance and Hunk agreed in unison.

Pidge sat back, placing her body weight on her hands as her short hair fell behind her shoulders. “It’ll be nice seeing everyone again, that’s for sure.” She agreed. “And me and my family are going to spend the entire timing skiing at Lake Tahoe, and hot tubbing it afterwards! Its going to be so great!”

“Oh, so that’s where you’re going, Pidge?” Shiro asked contentedly. 

Pidge smiled and nodded. “Yup! Me and my brother couldn’t really think of anything we wanted this year, so we thought that a family vacation would be for the best. It’ll be so awesome!” She shouted, pushing her arms into the air in a victory stance. “And don’t worry Shiro, I’ll be sure to send you smexy snapchats of Matt when he’s in the hot tub.”

Shiro laughed, finishing his beer. 

“Oh man, that reminds me.” He started out with a low chuckle, his nose scrunching up as the memory picked up from behind his eyes. He spoke warmly and fondly as he reminisced. “There was this one Christmas where my family had a time share at Jackson Hole for the winter. So we packed up and spent Christmas there. My Mom brought all of our decorations, and we set up the tree and we went all out. Like, we had an inflatable Santa on the deck, we hung up Christmas lights, and had fake snow over the kitchen counters, it was insane. But I remember I was so scared that Santa wasn’t going to find me that year since we were away. Thinking back, it was so selfish, but I was four years old, it was really scary. I tried to be really good that year for him too. I cried for three days straight leading up to it. I just had it in my mind that he wouldn’t be able to find me and would miss me, or that I had been a bad kid and deserved it. I even baked extra cookies for him and left out more milk, my parents made a video of it, actually.”

“Awhh, that’s so cute! Baby Shiro crying over Santa. Does that video still exist?” Lance asked immediately, hitting Shiro’s knee over the coffee table. “Can we see it?!”

Shiro slapped Lance’s hand away. “No! That video is somewhere hidden in the deep dark depths of my Mom’s closet. Trust me, you will never find it!” He grinned.

“Never say never,” Keith whispered with a knowing look to Lance. The two regarded each other mischievously before slapping each other’s hands in a silent agreement.

Shiro gulped.

“Anyways,” He pressed on hesitantly, “turns out I fretted for nothing, because I did end up getting gifts from Santa. It was such a good Christmas, we have that morning on tape too, I think. I just got out from my bed really hesitantly, and my Mom had to drag me out to the living room with my hand in hers. I just remember when I saw the card that said ‘From Santa, no need to fret Shiro,’ and I just started bawling. It was really funny.” 

“Something kind of like that happened with me and my sister, too!” Hunk pointed out, getting excited to tell fun family stories. “One of the girls in my sister’s class said that my sister hadn’t been good that year, so she should expect coal in her stocking and no gifts from Santa at all. And remember, this was when my sister was in kindergarten, so I was around three years old. We were devastated, my sister because she believed the bully, and me because I thought that my sister being bad would also effect me. So we stayed up all night Christmas Eve to see if we could hear Santa, just to make sure he’d come by. And I remember my Mom reading to us at midnight, and saying, ‘ _you know, if you stay up waiting, his magic won’t work. So you better go to bed or else he might not come_!’ This of course scared us even more, and we started bawling, and I’m talking massive tears and wails. My Mom had no idea what to do, so she hugged us and said that it would all work out.” Hunk said fondly, laughing at the memory of his frantic Mother.

“Then skip to 2 am in the morning. We’re still crying, and all of a sudden my Mom walks up to the door and knocks, saying that we have a visitor. We ran to our front door and heard sleigh bellso outside. And there’s this man dressed as Santa on our doorstep. Of course we thought it was Santa at the time, but we saw that he had one of our horses, Honey, behind him. He asked us if he could borrow her for the evening, and that he’d return her before we woke up. He said that Dancer was being moody and wanted to sleep, so he needed a magical horse to make it through the rest of his trip. But it couldn’t be any horse, it could only be from a loving family with really good children that were high up on Santa’s Good List. Later on it turned out that Santa was my Dad, because he wanted us to just go to sleep so he could put out the rest of the gifts, but my parents went so far to try and get us to believe in it. It was so cute.” Hunk said with a cheery smile. “Honesty, I think that story and just seeing my parents tired eyes the next morning was the best Christmas gift I got. They tried so hard to make it good. Even if looking back the story was really weird, it felt really good hearing Santa say that. I hope I can do the same thing for my kids some day, go that far to make it magical.”

This topic got Pidge thinking. She hummed out, placing a hand on her chin in thought. “Hmmm… I think the best Christmas gift I ever got was… uhmmm, Ohh yeah! When my Dad surprised me and my brother with tickets to Wicked in Theatre. Me and my brother had both read the book and memorized the musical, so we really wanted to see the play live, even if we were 11 or so at the time. I didn’t actually even ask for tickets on my list, I don’t think I ever even mentioned wanting to go see the play. My parents just knew because we always sang the songs in our car and talked about the book at dinner. Awh man,” Pidge thought back with a laugh. “That performance was so good, that entire trip was great!”

Allura smiled, noting how Pidge turned to her in question, silently asking Allura what her best gift for Christmas had been. She straightened up, rubbing her hands together as she thought it over. “Well, my family doesn’t celebrate Christmas, since we celebrate Hanukkah,” Allura explained wholeheartedly. “But when I was 16, my Mom gave me her great grandmother’s earrings, which I still have. They’re these really old hand carved White Sapphires from a few hundred years ago. They’re beautiful, and I sometimes wear them on really special occasions. I think that was my favourite gift for Hannukah, since it held so much meaning to our family.” She smiled, remembering how happy her mother was to hand down her family’s antiques as though it was a treasure. Allura guessed that they were, and had only wanted to know more about the old gems.

“Welllll,” Lance started obnoxiously from his seat on the ground. He especially noted how no one had asked, so therefore he just had to share his own story.

“My family never had too much money, so we tried to never spend too much on gifts. And most of the time we just went shopping on Boxing Day for the better sales. Don’t get me wrong, we definitely had a lot of Christmas presents under the tree from Santa, but if we wanted something a bit more costly, my parents would say it was from them and could be bought just a little later.” He explained confidently.

“But this one Christmas when I was 10, I was being really bullied at school by these idiot kids. They were really harsh, but I tried everything I could to fit in with them, make them stop hating me, you know? And one of the things that was becoming really popular at the time was surfing, which I was already really good at. So during the break I would always go to the beach. Even if it was raining I would practice so I could show off my skillzzz later on. I really wanted them to like me. But a few days before Christmas, I was surfing and I got caught up in a wave. I accidently hit another boarder twice my size. Apparently I blacked out and crashed into the rocks on the shore. I was fine, and the popular kids thought I was so cool from having bled out and not cried from the crash landing, but my board got totally wrecked. I cried for days after that. So I kept changing all my wishlists for Santa to bring me a new board so the other kids would like me. I was so scared, because I had sent in my postcard to his Elves Workshop and did everything at school already, so I didn’t think I could ask for it anymore. I thought it was too late.” He sighed out, rubbing his hand over his face.

“I loved that board, my Dad helped make it, actually. My Mom had to hold me saying that it’d be fine, it’d be fine, everything happened for a reason, but I just felt so bad. But that Christmas morning I woke up and we went to the tree, and there was this huge wrapped up gift standing kind to the side against the wall. And when we unwrapped all of gifts, my brother was like, ‘ _oh wait, there’s one more! Whose that really big one for?_ ’ and I can still see Mom’s grin. ‘ _Oh, I almost forgot. It looks like Lance got another gift some Santa!_ ’” Lance hitched up his voice as he spoke, trying to make it reminiscent to a female motherly tone, and the others laughed out from his failed impression. 

“She was probably more excited than I was. They got me a surfboard, I was so shocked. It was huge, and hand carved, and all mine, but it must have been so expensive, but like I still use it today, so money well spent I guess! We went to the beach afterwards, too, even though it was freezing, just so I could practice. And then we went home where my Abuela made us all chocolate cookies and cocoa. Best. Day. Ever.” He smiled, accentuating every last word with a grand gesture of his hands.

He explained his story with his typical wild theatrics and moronic faces, everything so Lance that Keith couldn’t help but keep his giggles at bay, hidden behind his gloves. 

“What about you, mullet?” Lance asked, moving his hand back on the floor to drag it over Keith’s bare skin. 

“What about me what?” Keith honestly questioned, taking another swig of his cooler as he quirked his head to the side.

“What was the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received?”

Keith pondered over his thoughts for a quick minute before openly floundering as he blushed. “Ohhh, I, uhm, I’ve never gotten a Christmas gift.” 

Lance screeched and felt his entire world not only shift but turn on a 90 degree angle at Keith’s words. _What?!_

So he said as much. “What?!!!!” 

Keith shrugged, dismissing his friends questioning faces. “I’ve never gotten a Christmas gift. I mean, I got your guys’ Christmas Cards the past few years when we did our exchanges, but I’ve never gotten my own present, not like that.” He wanted to smile, not trying to turn the better conversation to something not so happy. 

“But, I mean, how?!” Lance howled, unable to take his eyes away from his Keith. 

“It just never happened.” Keith explained honestly. “I was usually moving around, went back to the orphanage, moved into a different foster home too late, or had run away. And then I went to boarding school when I was 14 and just stayed there until University. It’s fine though, it really doesn’t matter to me anymore.” He said, really trying to make it sound sincere and with meaning since he knew Lance would take this confession to heart. Lance really cared about things like family and holidays and happy memories. 

“You poor soul,” He heard Hunk mutter to his side. Keith sighed, a little disgruntled with the turn of events. He chugged the last bit of his cooler, placing it on the table with a slam. He made grabby hands towards Pidge’s water bottle, and she immediately passed it over to him.

“You know what, I’m sure I’ve gotten something for Christmas at some point, I was probably just too young to remember it. And I always celebrated my birthday! Just not Christmas, it’s not a big deal to me. I mean, Allura celebrates Hannukah rather than Christmas, its no different than that, really.”

“It’s different than that, really.” Allura argued quietly.

Lance grimaced, looking expectantly at Keith. “How have we been roommates since first year and I’ve never known about this until now?”

Keith shrugged, finishing up Pidge’s now empty water. He was really starting to get agitated, not liking this kind of attention on him. He reached for Lances hand and squeezed it tightly. “Like I said, its fine. You’re making too big of a deal out of nothing.”

“But, like, Christmas, and Santa!” Lance expressed oh so eloquently.

Keith rolled his eyes. “And at the orphanage we still put out cookies and milk just like everyone else, we still had a giant feast for dinner, we still spent the day sledding out side. Just because I didn’t get a personalized gift doesn’t mean I was deprived. End of discussion.’” Keith smiled with a chuckle, his kind but idiot of a boyfriend’s expression still jutted out from disbelief.

“Is this why you didn’t want to do gifts this year?!” Lance instantly asked outraged.

Keith sighed. “ _You_ asked _me_ if we could ‘ _maybe not do gifts this year’_ , remember? We’re both poor college kids, and we still have to pay rent in January. It’s all good, babe.” Keith reassured with a tighter squeeze when Lance huffed out, a mild anger rising over his cheeks.

Pidge pulled out the cards again, begging everyone to play a drinking game with her since she obviously needed to further unwind from the past semester. Everyone joined in graciously this time round, becoming involved with the game and drinking the night away with their friends. 

Later on, Pidge turned to Lance and poked him in the shoulder. 

“Hey, Lance? We’re still driving to the airport together, right?” Lance fell back, his level of drunkness gone down a bit after hearing Keith’s unintentional bomb of information, and he was not so keen on drinking anymore.

“Yeah, Pidge. We’re still driving out to the airport together…” he exhaled, watching from his side eye as Keith continued to drink his night away happily, now sitting next to Shiro on the ratty old leather couch. The two seemed to be joking about something funny that happened at one of their classes, something that one of their kids did during practice. He sighed sadly, not imagining at all a little Keith waking up all alone on Christmas morning, not being excited to spend the day singing carols with his family, not being excited to eat his favourite cookies and pastries all day long. And he especially wasn’t imagining a little Keith not being excited to fall asleep, just to wake up and see what was underneath the tree just for him for being a good kid. That was something Lance figured Keith probably didn’t hear too often, since he once told Lance that he was titled a ‘problem child’ in the foster system. But Christmas morning, or just the holidays in general, was a magical experience for any child, and something everyone should experience. Lance didn’t allow himself to think about this sad turn of events even a little. Nope. Not at all.

Not even a pinch.

Okay he was dwelling on it completely, but could you blame him? 

He looked once again to the DIY cheap wooden tree on the wall, and a light just seemed to click over his head as an idea began to form. He crawled over to Allura, who had just won a game of _Never Have I Ever_ against Pidge and Hunk as they sat around playing Sociables. “Hey, Allura. I have a question. How’d you make that tree on the wall?”

***---***---***---***

The two got home around 2 am that night, Keith drinking over half his body weight in coolers and Lance eventually deciding it’d be a good idea to bring out the Tequila with Pidge. 

Firstly, Tequila was never a good idea.

And secondly, Keith got touchy when he drank a lot. Like _touchy_ touchy. Inappropriate touchy. And so, when Keith had decided to get a little more hands on than usual in a somewhat public area, Lance decided that they needed to get the hell out of Dodge. Now.

A drunk Keith meant a needy Keith. In more ways than one. Shiro called them a cab and found their jackets and gloves in the back of the full closet. The older boy even helped the two out the door. Keith promised to text Shiro when they made it home safely, as long as Shiro did they same for him.

They all shared a hug at the entrance, wishing each other a Happy Holidays and that they’d see each other in the New Year.

Afterwards, during their wait, Keith tipsily tried to wrap his scarf around his neck elegantly, but ended up tying it around his hand with a jerk. He pouted to Lance, silently requesting for help with his situation.

Lance laughed, straightening his own hat before aiding his boyfriend with the scarf. They sat outside of the girls’ apartment, watching as the snow fell to the ground in the bustling and lively city. A snowflake landed directly on Lance’s cheek, and Keith burst out comically, his rosey cheeks bright underneath the starry sky. He pressed his gloved fingers over his mouth from giggling too loudly. They just looked at each other, taking the other one in.

And thats when he couldn’t take it anymore. Keith suddenly pushed Lance against the doorway none too gently, and pressed a breathy and intoxicating kiss to the others lips. It was all too hot and needy.

His fingers jerkily moved over Lance’s jacket, rising to wrap around his neck, pulling Lance even further in.

Lance moaned out, and Keith took advantage of this and teased his tongue into his boyfriend’s mouth. Keith was being completely open to Lance at the moment, the alcohol making him more compliant and excited than usual. He met Keith half way, his tongue tasting decidedly sweet. It started as romantic and cute, but as the moments passed, the kiss hardened, their breaths becoming more drawn out and passionate, never wanting to end. 

Keith subconsciously thrusted his hips forward against Lance’s increasing bulge, breathing out in a sighed moan. Lance wished he could hear that noise forever. 

He placed his hands on Keith’s chasing hips, stilling the venturing body.

“Come on, Babe. We need to calm down for the cab ride.”

Keith whined behind closed eyes, lips nipping at Lance’s again. 

“But the cab isn’t here yet…” He mumbled.

“Yeah, but-”

And here comes the devil; ask and you shall receive, Lance thought pitifully. They felt the illumination of the taxi’s light evade their secretive positions, taking away the moment that was just for themselves, now lost in memory to the night. Lance sighed while the taxi honked aggressively from across the street.

With a tired smile, he cheekily said, “taxi's here." 

They didn’t do anything but hold hands during the ride, and Lance could feel Keith’s rising frustration. 

He could see it too, pressing against the thick layer of his jeans beneath his coat.

Lance smirked. He had helped with that. Lance felt a little swell of pride from being able to turn such a hot guy on.

When they got to their own apartment, Keith paid the cab with cash, not asking for the change because tips were a thing and the cabby hadn’t spoken rudely to them, or at all, so Keith’s drunken mind decided the man deserved it. He then took Lance’s hand in his own, forcing him out of the cab. Lance slammed the door and the two rushed up to their one bedroom apartment, the frosty air biting their lungs. 

As soon as the door shut the excitement from Pidge’s house restarted, the fire continuing to burn from their want 

They tore off their unnecessary clothing that was dusted with snowflakes, and left them as an unwanted wet heap at the front entrance door.

Keith gasped through a loud moan when Lance’s near frost bitten hands hands ran underneath his t-shirt and onto his bare skin, nipping at it in shock. 

“Ahh! Idiot, stop that! I-I told you to bring gloves,” Keith complained, moving his own fingertips to grip onto Lance’s short hair. The Cuban boy slammed Keith into the wall against their bedroom door, not quite wanting to take it to their room quite yet 

They thrusted against each other hotly, their excitement tightening and pressing hard against the zipper of their jeans. 

They nipped at each other’s lips, hands wildly moving everywhere and anywhere over the other’s body. But Keith soon picked up that Lance wasn’t as into it as he was.

With a sigh, he pressed his head back against the wall, stilling with a lick to his own lips. 

“What’s up?” He asked like it was a secret not to be shared.

Lance sighed, moving his head over Keith’s shoulder and pressing against the wall, Keith’s hair tickling his face. He kissed lovingly at Keith’s neck, touching a known sensitive area that made the other openly shiver. Lance smiled from his hiding place, brushing his hands over Keith’s bare hips again.

“What you said earlier,” He admitted into Keith’s skin.

“Oh god dammit, Lance. Stop worrying about it!” Keith indignantly argued.

“But, you’ve never gotten a Christmas present before,”

“Yeah, but I’ve gotten birthday gifts, I’m sure it’s the same. It’s fine, Lance. Just drop it.”

“But I’m no going to,”

“Well then, lets just pretend that I celebrate Kwanzaa or I’m actually 100% atheist or something.”

Lance offered a sad frown, running his hands smoothly over Keith’s shoulders. “But you’re not though. That’d just be a lie.”

Keith frowned, and tried to give Lance another passionate kiss, hoping to drag to other boy into the throws of lust and despair rather than have this conversation. He wished that he would eventually just forget it all together, but Lance wasn’t having it.

With a tight growl, Keith pressed forward. “Yeah, it would be.” He agreed. He moved back, pressing the palms of his hands onto Lance’s cheeks. Dark violet met gentle blue as Keith forced Lance to look straight at him.

“The orphanage I stayed at sometimes did get communal gifts, like a bag with stuffed animals and old toys from the Salvation Army. I think one year we even got a sled, but those gifts were meant to be shared, and they were never ours and we weren’t allowed to take them once we left. They also weren't wrapped. So no, I never had my own Christmas gift, and I’ve never unwrapped a stocking or a present under a tree. That’s what I meant. I’ve had great holiday seasons though, Lance, and that’s all that matters.”

“Even when you ran away, or were at the boarding school?”

Keith sighed, pushing himself away from the wall and out his boyfriend’s grip in an angered haste. He muttered something intangible as he crossed arms, his increasing displeasure obvious to the now fearful Lance. Why couldn’t Lance just let it go? Keith had let it go years ago, had now accepted it too, he was fine, truly he was, but bringing it up over and over again was already starting to get to him. And it had only been a few hours since it was first mentioned.

There were some things that Keith didn’t want to remember, they hurt too much to think over, and spending any special occasion as a misfit run away or alone at the boarding school was never a fun time to reminisce. He was in a much better place now, why force himself to go back in time just to end up sad again?

Keith sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Hey, come on.” He called out to the worried Lance, who was half hiding behind the doorframe while he watched Keith run through his inner dialogue. “I’m tired now. Lets just go to bed, yeah?”

Lance offered a sigh, taking Keith’s hand as they walked over to their shared mattress. 

“Okay….”

***---***---***---***

“Lance, I can hear your thoughts from here.” Pidge hollered out, rolling her suitcase through the line up as she picked up her ticket from the self-checkout kiosk.

“Still hungover from your party, are you?” He ignored her, and instead chose now to look over his little friend. She was definitely a sight for sore eyes, her hair messy and greasy, her outfit mismatched and wrinkled. Her eyes looked like a raccoons from their darkened bags. And it was painfully obvious she wasn’t feeling too well, her paleness intense underneath the artificial lights of the airport.

"So much.” She confessed, pulling her hood over her head a little further.

“You know, for someone who doesn’t look a day over 14, you can really hold your alcohol.” He pointed out.

“Shut up, Lance. Someone might actually believe that.”

“What? That you’re 14? I would!” She whacked him against his arm as they walked forwards towards the baggage drop off.

“Definitely act like it too,” He muttered, rubbing his sore arm through his jacket.

“It’s funny how being 21 works,” Pidge idly confessed while they continued to walk down the corridor. “You know, when I was 14, people thought I was 21. Now that I’m 21, people think I’m 14. It sucks.”

Lance laughed out cautiously, afraid of another incoming hit.

“Yeah, I bet. But just wait until your 22, things really start to look up then.” 

“Oh wow, a whole year. So much will change.”

“So much that you won’t even believe it, Pidge! It’s amazing on this side. Too bad you’ll never catch up.” He gave a sly wink. Pidge threw her suitcase on the drop off conveyor, and the two turned the other way towards security. Lance decided against baggage claim, since that would just be spending more money he didn’t have, and his parents already had shampoo, conditioner and everything he couldn’t bring on board at his house. He could go without a larger luggage bag for a few days.

Pidge exhaled, looking at her phone. It clearly shined 6:46 am back at her, and she ran a hand threw her grimy hair, grimacing at the dry feel of it. She hadn’t showered the day before, having been trapped in hangover hell, and the week before that had been finals, and well…. Personal hygiene was never Pidge’s top concern during exams. 

“Stupid Tequila,” She whispered out. “What time is your flight again?” She asked a little too loudly for Lance’s liking this early in the morning. He openly flinched at her practically yelling voice, seemingly forgetting the power of her own commanding tone. 

“Oh, its at 10:45,” Lance spoke looking at his boarding pass. “So I should be through security by 8 at the latest. You?”

“10. Want to grab a coffee and some carbs before heading on through? I think I need some food if I don’t want to snap at people.” She frowned. Lance nodded in agreement, letting her lead the way, knowing full well when to pick his battles against her. 

They stopped in front of a Starbucks, Lance looking through the menu and counting his change as they entered the line.

“What do you want?” Pidge asked quickly and without explanation.

“Huh?” Lance quirked. “Oh, I was just going to get a black coffee.” He said, clutching the change he needed for the drink and dropping the rest back into his wallet.

Pidge slapped her hand dramatically over her forehead. “No, Lance. What do you want?” She turned to him, looking him in the eyes with a hint of concern. “My treat.”

Lance wildly waved his arms around and almost hit the father who was holding a toddler directly behind him. He didn’t notice, and instead continued shouting at Pidge, saying she didn’t have to do such a thing.

“I know I don’t have to, but I want to. You made me the really good margarita the other night from your own tequila. I owe you one.”

“Pidge, you really don’t have to-“

“Lance, its just coffee. And if that doesn’t work, think of this as an early Christmas present then.”

Lance winced at the mention of Christmas and gift. Pidge could only grin knowingly at him, figuring she had won the battle. 

“Knew it.” She pointed out to no one but herself. They made their way through the line before Pidge placed the order, getting herself a Venti Café Mocha with an espresso shot and a gingerbread loaf. She ordered Lance what he requested with a regretful sigh, a ‘Venti, half-sweet, non-fat caramel macchiato.’

“You’re such a white girl,” She coughed out when they received their drinks from the tired employees. Lance gave her a side eye before confessing it could be worse. It could always be worse. The starbucks employee seemed to offer a small, knowing giggle at the side of the counter after hearing Lance say that.

They sat down at an empty table, Pidge pulling down her hood and rubbing her sore raccoon like eyes underneath her glasses.

She smiled tiredly at Lance, placing her chin in her opened palm, leaning against her arm. She moved the gingerbread loaf to the middle of the table, opening the bag and tearing the pastry in half. “Here, the rest is yours. I know how much you like gingerbread.” Lance took a sip of his drink before peeling a piece of the loaf and mindlessly eating it.

Pidge watched analytically while her friend remained mentally elsewhere.

“You’re still thinking about it.” She admitted, looking at him with pity.

Lance didn’t even try to defend himself. And instead shook his head. He fell forward, pressing his forehead against the cool counter of the plastic green table.

“Keith didn’t seem too affected by it, maybe you shouldn’t be too?” She started hesitantly, yet knowing full well this theory was incorrect.

“Keith is just pretending that it doesn’t affect him. He thinks that if he pretends enough, the lie will become the truth and everything will fine and all that shit. He’s talked about it with the therapist before.” Lance said, digging his cheek into the table. He reached up and tore off another piece of the loaf, chewing it thoughtfully.

“Ahh, defense mechanism?"

Lance nodded feeling heavy. His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he noticed a quick text from his Mom saying what time they’d arrive at the airport to pick him up.

“Yeah, something like that. It’s better than it was before, though. When he used to just lash out and yell? That sucked.”

Pidge nodded, remembering the early days of University when they lived on campus, and how afraid Lance was of his roommate’s extremely differentiating mood swings. There didn’t seem to be rhyme or reason for it at the time, how Keith could go from hot to cold in seconds. But they slowly realized that Keith just had some anger issues and needed to talk things out. They discovered certain triggers they had to avoid, help Keith move on in his life. From not having gone through a typically normal childhood, as they would say, the group eventually led him to a counselor, and later a therapist, just to talk things over with. It hadn’t been a smooth ride at first, but Lance was damned proud of Keith for doing as much. Their RAs of their same co-ed campus residence at the time, Allura and Shiro, were especially proud of him too. Pidge thought back, finding it funny how they all met first year living on the same floor, and surprised that they still remained such close friends, albeit taking such different majors.

Keith, for one, had always practiced Tae Kwon Do, but it was Shiro who introduced him to Judo at his Dad’s studio, and eventually even helped Keith get a job as an instructor there after the right credentials had been passed. The two continued to act like brothers, and Lance could not be more happy to have found Shiro for Keith. But it didn’t help Keith much during his more sad, ‘down’ days, as Lance called them, worrying his boyfriend was going to fall into another rut with Lance gone over the holidays. Knowing Keith, he probably wouldn’t say anything either, not wanting to worry Lance or inconvenience him.

“So you think he’s not telling the truth.” Pidge asked, swirling around her coffee.

“I know he’s not telling the truth! Who the hell wants to spend the Holidays alone? No one! It’s horrible. I asked him if he wanted to come with me to visit my family, but he said that this was a time for family only, and since he hasn’t even met my parents yet, he thought that’d just be awkward as hell. 

“Oh, I thought he met your Mom?” Pidge asked, finally chugging down her drink.

“No, he just missed her when she visited last semester. She left the morning he came back from his field study. But he met my brother, though. George seemed to really like him and even approved.” Lance said, blowing a fallen piece of hair out of his face.

Pidge laughed, considering how short Lance’s hair was in the first place.

“But this entire situation, the holidays, him being home alone _yet again,_ and no gift?! Pidge this is destroying me!”

Lance sighed and looked towards the sliding front arrival entrance of the airport, the snow falling in grey tones from the sky outside. Some would say it was beautiful.

To Lance it just looked cold.

“I can tell.” Pidge smiled, moving herself forward so she was looking Lance right in the eye, her chin resting on the plastic table as well. “Now the question is, what are you going to do about it?”

***---***---***---***

Keith spent Christmas Eve helping close down the bar. They kicked most everyone out early, since some of the staff either had family to return to or had plans to attend. Keith found himself having none of those things, so he agreed to close down to bar while everyone left. Hey, more money in his pocket, he thought.

It had been a dead night, though, which wasn’t all that surprising. Some older guests came with their families for a fun meal together earlier on, since the pub allowed minors until 9 pm. But after that, Keith counted all of 5 tables, and a few people at the bar. Some of who were regulars, the other half were staff who had just finished their shift and were having a glass of wine together before heading out. 

He said goodnight to Scott, the janitor, wishing him a Happy Holidays before leaving around 11. For a pub, being out before 11 o’clock was entirely unheard of for Keith, and now found himself with an immense amount of time before his body would beg for sleep.

Keith walked down the icy snow ridden paths, never being one for the cold

He carried a small to-go box of Christmas dinner. It was filled with hot turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce. The chefs went all out and had a Christmas Eve dinner special for their guests. And since there had been quite a few leftovers, Keith asked if he could take some as his staff meal. Chef Taylor just looked at him, grabbed a to-go box and just handed it to Keith, wishing him a good night and to stay safe, telling him the meal was on the house.

Chef Taylor always held a soft spot for Keith, and had definitely helped him move up to Bartending during his earlier days as Expediter in the kitchen. He was a sarcastic and foul-mouthed man, a true Chef through and through, but he always had a kind heart.

Keith rubbed his hands together, trying to warm himself up while he walked down the sidewalk. The lights were all lit above him and down the narrow street. They illuminated his path beautifully, emphasizing the perfectly white and falling snow with vibrant silvers, golds, magentas and pastel azures. It was breathtaking, Keith had to admit. The town’s stores still played Christmas music in the dead of the night, making Keith’s nightly walk home a little kinder.

As a last minute plan, Keith changed his normal route and decided to walk through the park instead, having no real reason to head home to an empty apartment so early on. The idea actually scared Keith a little.

So he continued his walk, moving quickly past a few large groups of people. They laughed tipsily as they headed away from the closing bars. He heard them chanting wildly, whooping since one of them apparently had gotten engaged that night, and Keith couldn’t help but smile a little.

Further down his path, he past an older couple, walking hand in hand in silence. They held a normality to themselves, a normality that only came with years of knowledge and experience from being with the other person. They seemed happy and safe as they walked through the snow together, and Keith felt his heart begin to ache.

Keith sighed, looking around. He noticed an empty bench underneath a street lamp, and walked over it, brushing away the heap of snow. There were more people out tonight, more happy and bright eyed people than usual. Where were all the people like him, huh? Where were all the people who had just sat at his bar by themselves, who were like Keith? All alone on Christmas Eve? Where were they?

Probably already home, keeping themselves away from this painful and self-inflicted torture, Keith devastatingly decided. 

There were couples everywhere; friends, families with older children who could be out past 10 o’clock, and couples still walking the vibrant streets. They were all smiling and some were singing but they were all so happy and laughing and joyous and Keith couldn’t take it.

He was jealous. He was being selfish, but he was openly jealous of these people who just had something that he didn’t. It never came down to the presents that Lance seemed to focus on.

No, it was this. It was watching the movies on tv, walking down the street and seeing the big families. They were always shopping for each other, holding each others hands, being there for one another. Everyone seemed to have someone else by their side during the holidays, and it just further stabbed the knife into Keith’s already opened wound. 

It hurt, dammit, but Keith didn’t want to be jealous. He was truly happy for these people. 

They didn’t have to feel loneliness that he had always felt. 

Keith whimpered, remembering how he struggled to remain smiling when Lance told him how excited he was to go home for Christmas and visit his family again. Keith could see it behind his eyes. It was so beautiful and exciting, Keith couldn’t have destroyed that by begging Lance to stay behind.

_Please?_

Lance had asked Keith if he wanted to join, but Keith couldn’t do that. Not only had he not taken the time off from his jobs, he also hadn’t met everyone in Lance’s family, and he thought the worst way to make an entrance was to intrude on their much needed family-only time. 

Lance had left three days ago, and it hadn’t bothered Keith too much. It really hadn’t at first, but the damned Christmas Music and ongoing happy go lucky 90s movies that were always on cable were getting to him. 

The two Skyped everyday, sometimes for hours at a time, which was ludicrous, Keith thought. Lance was only gone for 10 days at most, this break was nothing horrific.

Still, that place he made in Keith’s life instantly lost its colour and value. Nothing was loud and exuberant anymore. Keith just didn’t see as much need to get out of bed, not without someone to share a morning coffee with.

He exhaled, his icy breath shown through the puffy cloud it created. He watched as an interested crow peaked up to him, suddenly. It chirped interestedly, coming out from hiding from its place underneath Keith’s bench. 

“Hey, buddy. You all alone too?” Keith asked, a little shocked to see a crow so close to him. 

The crow cawed intensely, and jumped from side to side, gazing at Keith with a quirk of its head.

“Yeah, I am too…” Keith sighed. He blinked, looking down at the cold to go box of food, before opening its lid hesitantly.

“Here, no one should eat alone tonight.” Keith smiled. He picked at a small, moistened breadcrumb from the stuffing, grinding it in his fingers before throwing it out in pieces for the bird. The crow cawed again, grabbing at the pieces quickly. It ate them ferociously and jumped back to Keith, staring at him attentively. Keith offered a smile, before throwing out some more.

He spent his night like this, before the lamplight seemed to flicker above him. The cold intensified, and Keith decided it was to start packing up the rest of the food and continue his trek home. 

A particular large and loud family passed by, and Keith saw a younger boy with skates hanging around his neck. He asking his Dad if he’d watched him during his game, watched him score. ‘ _I played well, right Dad?’_

_Yeah, you killed it out there, kiddo. I’m really proud of you._

The family continued to joke around each other, saying how Santa would have to come now because of how awesomely the son had played. The mom mentioned something about hot chocolate waiting for them when they all got home. Together.

Keith couldn’t take it anymore.

By the time he made it to his home, he’d given the rest of his meal to a homeless man asking for spare change on the street. He didn’t even say anything, just handed the damned food to him.

Keith didn’t need it anyway. He locked the door behind him in a rut, his breath coming out in sharp pants. He couldn’t breathe. He clenched at his chest, tearing off his jacket and scarf all at once, throwing it to the ground in a daze. He whimpered out, shakily grabbing onto his phone as he staggered forward unevenly. His heart was beating too fast and everything hurt and felt too warm but my god he needed Lance, he needed someone there, why wasn’t anyone there, why wasn’t anyone ever there?!

He hit Lance’s contact number and the phone began ringing instantly. Keith hoped the other would pick up, knowing he was only a few hours behind Keith. But he also worried that Lance might be at Church or somewhere else with his family. Keith might be interrupting something good for his own selfishness. He bit his lip enough to draw blood, leaning heavily over himself as he trembled.

The phone continued to ring, and Keith exhaled a shaky breath.

He heard the familiar dial tone pick up, Lance’s ‘ _Hey, this is Lance! I’m probably away from my phone studying at the moment, so please leave a name and number and I'll call yah back as soon as possible. Byee!’_

Keith choked out and placed a hand over his wettening eyes, trying hard to right himself before he spoke. “Hey, uhmmm, Lance, it’s just me. Hi….” He started, the fact that he was upset much too obvious. Keith winced at the sound his own pathetic voice made.

“It’s just, uhmm. I saw a couple tonight while I was walking home, and it r-reminded me of you. I h-hope you’re having a good time, you know with your family and all. Merry Ch-christmas Eve, I’m sure you’re doing something fun right now, so I’m sorry for interrupting. So yah, I guess.. Love you? A-and see you soon…”

Keith let out another shakey breath, trying to quiet his quickening sobs.

“Ahhh fuck it, Lance?" He whimpered loudly. "I- I uhm… it’s just… I really miss you...” Keith let go, sobbing into the phone call as he quickly shut it off, throwing it onto the bed. Keith continued to cry, moving himself towards the empty mattress. He didn’t know when or how, but he soon found himself underneath the cold covers, only in his boxers as he tried to drift away to a kind unconscious that only sleep could allow.

Keith didn’t let himself think about how his face still hurt from the oncoming rush of tears.

***---***---***---***

When Keith woke up on Christmas morning, he could feel the headache behind his eyes. His cheeks and eyes were still puffy from his little breakdown the night before, red rimmed and raw.

He sniffled a little and quietly checked his phone. He frowned, seeing the 7 am light up across the screen in the darkness. 

‘So much for a good nights rest,’ Keith thought sadly.

He shuffled around his bed, trying to get comfy and sleep a bit more before having himself a pity fest of a day. But soon enough, nature called and Keith forced himself out of bed. He closed the bathroom door and looked at his face with a sigh.

‘Yah, I’ve definitely had better days.’ He took a longer shower that day, deciding he could spend the little bit of extra money on hot water, if he didn’t let Lance know. He came out looking refreshed but felt nowhere near revived. He toweled himself off and walked back to his bedroom. Looking through the drawers of his dresser, he decided on something to wear. His eyes fell on his favourite pair of black sweatpants, and one of Lance’s oversized hoodies in the back of the closet. Keith immediately wrapped it around himself, smelling it.

Oh hell yeah, Keith was getting properly comfortable today, at the bright and amazing dawnly hour of 7:45 am. He was living the high life. The headache continued to thud behind his skull, and Keith forced himself out of the bedroom and into the kitchen in search of some coffee and Advil.

But Keith was stopped by something strange and large coming into his line of sight in the living room.

He turned towards the area, and immediately stepped back from shock.

No. Fucking. Way.

There in the middle of the room was a large and strangely shaped box wrapped in different sorts of wrapping paper and tied together with a bow. Everything was Christmas themed, ranging from the more family oriented and cute drawings of Santa and his Reindeer, to just gold and red colours, to more detailed drawings of snow and plants. The three sets of wrapping paper were all hastily put together and taped over top of each other. A true mess.

Keith had no idea who brought it in, or how- the box was much too large to even fit through the doorway. He walked up to it a little hesitantly, and noticed that the box stopped above his waist, and was about the size of his arm width. The thing was massive.

“What the hell?” He questioned out loud from his own curiosity. Behind the present and against the wall was a …. Decoration of sorts? It kind of looked like it was supposed to be that Christmas Tree that Allura had made from their party earlier on in the week. The ‘tree’ was tilted and hanging a little awkwardly against the wall directly behind the Christmas present. Its threaded string and oddly shaped plastic and wooden branches were probably bought from Walmart or a Dollar Store, given how they seemed to already fray along the edges. There was tinsel and a few Christmas decorations hanging from the ‘branches’. As well, there one was one line of golden lights that threaded up and throughout the tree, illuminating it with Christmas cheer.

Keith smiled, turning back to the present. He saw a large paper note right underneath the bow and went to grab it. It read in large felt pen ink: 

_‘Hi Keith, I’m sorry about making you wait all these years. I hope this makes up for it. You deserve it._

_Love from Santa’_

 

He turned it over and analyzed the slightly crimpled paper, the handwritten words obviously none other than Lances own.

Keith let out a little laugh, smiling widely as he continued to cherish the note in his hands. Suddenly he heard a muffled sound from inside, like someone was shuffling around. He then heard something like music being to play, which sounded oddly similar to Mariah Carey’s _All I Want For Christmas_.

And that’s when the box exploded.

Lance threw open the top, the wrapping paper tearing as he did so. He jumped up like a stripper coming out of a cake, still inside the box. Keith shouted and jumped back in panic. He noticed how Lance was only wearing black pants and a red and white striped tie. His bare chest expanded as he breathed loudly, his smile wide and grinning from his child-like excitement.

“Merry Christmas!” He shouted out merrily. He had some tinsel and party favours in his hands, and threw them up in the air to celebrate. The paper pieces all fell to the ground softly, reminiscent to snowflakes, brushing over their shoulders and hair.

“I hope you like your present.” Lance couldn’t help but say with glee, drawing himself down further into the box and grabbing a hand sized package. It was much smaller than the first, and was much more nicely decorated, Lance obviously had take the time to wrap it perfectly. It was covered in only one set of red and silver coloured wrapping paper, a golden bow and string tying it together.

Keith let out a shaky breath, not sure whether he should laugh or cry.

So he did both.

He grabbed Lance’s bare shoulders and threw himself into his neck, hugging Lance tightly as he let out a choked sob.

Lance stilled when he accidently dropped the gift onto the floor, feeling Keith’s shoulders tremble against his own body.

“Hey, hey, its okay. No reason to cry, man.” He jokingly said, wrapping his own arms around Keith’s waist tightly. Keith stayed like that, only letting out small whimpers that were followed with a tiny yet genuine laugh. The other seemed content to just stay in his arms, a little bit of tinsel from Lance’s hair falling onto Keith’s own head.

Finally, after the song had finished and another Christmas track begin to play on Lance’s computers playlist, Keith breathed in and pulled back. He sniffled a bit as he rubbed his eyes, taking in this insane scene his boyfriend had created inside their living room. “How did you even- the door was locked, and you’re supposed to be-“

“With my family?” Lance finished for him, biting his lip a little saddened when Keith nodded.

“I talked to my parents about it. They weren’t the happiest, but we were able to get a super cheap last minute flight home so I could surprise you. This was my gift from them this year.” Lance explained sheepishly, looking around. 

Was there a draft in the room, Lance wondered as he suddenly felt incredibly bare and exposed.

“And this?” Keith asked, pointing to the box and ‘tree’

“Oh, Pidge helped me out with this. We just got a whole bunch of cardboard boxes. We cut them up and taped the sides together to make this one giant box. It kind of works likes a chest, so I could open the top like a lid. And then I wrapped it…. It’s why everything is a little wonky and out of place, but it still looked good, right?” Lance asked, starting to get embarrassed from his effort. 

Keith offered a gentle smile, pulling Lance in for a kiss. “It looked perfect.” He said with another peck.

“Nawwh, you’re just saying that,” Lance chided. “Allura also sent me their craft Christmas tree over Pinterest. Mine didn’t turn out exactly like the photo, but it still looks pretty good!” He smiled, turning to the tree. One of the strings that attached it to the wall then fell out, making the tree fall a bit and tilt at an awkward angle. “At least it did...” Lance sighed, looking back towards Keith who remained in a slump. 

“But when did you get back? How did you have time to do all of this? How long have you been in there?!” 

Lance looked down to the ground, rubbing his temples from all the questions.

“I, uhm, flew back earlier this morning, so I got home around 4ish? I haven’t exactly slept.” He confessed. Keith looked at him with widened eyes, gesturing with a hand motion for Lance to continue on. 

“And when I got here you were out like a light, and you know how deep of a sleeper you are, so I just went to work. It didn’t take as long as I thought since I brought all the supplies with me to the airport. Now that was a fun little trip, I’ll tell you.” Lance grinned with a coy laugh. 

“As for how long I stayed in there, well I’ve been napping for the better part of an hour, waiting for you. I honestly thought you’d be up much later.”

“And you could breath?!”

Lance did laugh at this, running his hand through his hair. “Well at first no, but then I poked little air holes through the cardboard, and then it was fine!”

Keith just remained shock, standing near the torn up box and gift paper.

“Were you expecting this?”

Keith shook his head quickly, eyes still wide. He may have to pinch himself, not entirely believing this situation be true. He had to still be dreaming. “No, not at all.”

Lance stepped out from the handmade box, tripping over it’s edges none to gracefully as he did so. He grabbed the actual gift from where it landed on the floor and sat down, perching himself next to the dangling tree. He grabbed at Keith’s hand, pulling the raven hair boy down as well. They sat cross-legged facing each other, Lance smiling away expectantly while Keith just remained stunned beside the large box. He had his head perched inbetween his hands, looking through his spread fingertips shyly. 

Lance held up the gift, shaking it towards Keith. “Like I said: Merry Christmas, Keith.”

Keith quirked an eyebrow, taking the gift with hesitance.

“Haven’t you done enough?” Keith confessed, tugging lightly at the string as though he just found a pirates treasure and just needed to take it all in.

Lance shrugged. “I don’t think so.”

Keith brushed his hands over the gift, seeing a note that read in the same large felt pen ink:

_‘To Keith. Merry Christmas, mullet-head. I’m excited for the many more to come._

_Love you, Lance_ ’

 

Keith carefully tore the paper, making sure not to ruin it as Lance sat anxiously, fiddling around like an excited child not able to sit still.

When Keith unwrapped it, he noticed it was a book, a photo album to be exact.

It was hand made and filled with pictures of their adventures together. The time they drove to Disney Land all the way across the country, when Keith got the phone call stating how he got the job as a Tae Kwon Do instructor with Shiro. Keith sleeping in the rental moving vehicle the day they moved, and Lance’s first day in their new apartment, when Lance had to make a speech at their entrance Ceremony this year. After that the album with filled with multiple selfies and stupid pictures they had taken of each other in secret. Keith smiled, reading all the little notes that Lance had carefully written under each photo. They each ended with another reason as to why Lance loved him. In the end, Lance had taped 100 pictures with 100 reasons for Keith to read through. 

“I just can’t believe it.” Keith said through a heavy blink, shutting the binder closed and running a thoughtful hand over the material.

“You know I couldn’t afford much this year with our raised tuition, so I couldn’t actually get you anything really special, but I thought that maybe-“

 Keith jumped form his seat and straight for Lance, forcing the Cuban boy onto his back as Keith laid on his chest, kissing him with everything he had.

There was a silent thank you in there. Lance could tell from Keith’s shaky finger tips and moans as he touched Lance’s chest with need. He always spoke more loudly through actions than words alone, Lance thought. 

Keith couldn’t stop himself from touching Lance, the boy he loved with all his heart. He kissed and kissed him until both of their lips were raw and plumped red.

“It’s perfect. This was perfect. Thank you.” Keith muttered quickly between the loving pecks. He palmed Lance’s face, holding onto him and deepening the kiss. Lance’s mouth fell open, allowing Keith into his mouth. Their tongues met safely in between, playful teasing the other.

Lance’s hand fell from Keith’s waist towards his ass, palming it with his well kept nails, feeling the fabric of the heavy sweatpants.

“Mmmhmmff-“ Keith breathed, letting go of the kiss to gasp against Lance’s lips. Lance couldn’t tear his eyes away from Keith’s expression, already too far gone in lust. His cheeks were flushed and rosy, his eyelashes batting against his cheeks. Keith was always the more sensitive one when it came to this kind of thing, which had honestly been a surprise to both Lance and himself. 

The taller brunet snickered, replacing his hands to move beneath the material, squeezing the tight skin.

“Ahhh-ha!” Keith gasped again, Lance’s hand now rubbing up and down tortuously slow.

“Lance, please.” Keith muttered, feeling the cold hands palm his ass cheeks and stretch them out, only to then rub against his puckered hole. Not one to just give in, Keith grabbed Lance’s shoulders from above, moving himself back up onto Lance’s groin, thrusting his ass over it, feeling Lance become even harder through his pants. 

“Fuuuck, Keith.” Lance groaned, his head falling back against the carpet and running his hands over Keith’s waist. He pulled at the hoodie, silently begging for Keith to throw it off.

Keith, however, just continued to stare at him, licking his lips as he circled himself back and forth against his lover. 

With a smirk, he threw Lance’s hoodie off, his fingers playing with one of Lance’s hardened nipples, making the brunet squirm and whine. Lance smiled, rubbing the v-line against Keith’s hardened hip-bone. All sharp edges and lines, that’s how Lance would describe Keith.

It seemed like eons later, but eventually Keith found strength to move off his boyfriend and race back to their bedroom to grab the lube.

Lance helped prep Keith from below, remaining sturdy from his position on the floor, laying down as he watched Keith finger himself through choked moans. Keith had three fingers within himself and one of Lance’s own, still a little too tight to be properly entered.

“Just a bit longer, babe. Don’t want to hurt you,” Lance admitted when he noticed Keith getting agitated.

“No, Lance. Now.” He said, thrusting hard over Lance’s ever increasing bulge. Keith knew Lance was right, that he still wasn’t completely ready, but he wanted to feel it, liked that little bit of sting it offered to keep him grounded.

Call him a masochist, but he liked feeling that familiar burn from his boyfriend days afterwards. It gave him a sense of support, strangely enough, of love and companionship Keith never thought he’d get to experience. 

“So hot, Keith. Fuck. How’d I get so lucky, fuck-” Lance breathed out stagnantly. Keith stilled from above as Lance asked this. Stopping was not something Lance wanted, oh no, not in the slightest. He whimpered loudly, thrusting his hip upwards, his aching crotch lifting into the crease of Keith’s ass.

Keith fell forward over Lance’s damned long torso. He reached underneath himself, grabbing and rubbing at Lance’s naked shaft. He could feel it pulse with need in his heated palm. Keith began to line himself up as best he could, feeling his way around, having almost a years worth of experience with this by now. He moved to put his lips against Lances, holding onto the other’s shoulder as support.

Keith’s ass cheeks were pulled apart again, the area thumping with want for something to fill it. He felt the head line itself with his entrance, and gasped as his muscles twitched, begging for it to enter.

“I’m the lucky one here, Lance.” And with that, Keith moved the thick head of Lance’s cock into his slickened rim. Slowly, he felt the thick member press forward, head forcing inside the small opening. Keith forced it in all the way with one steady and tantalizing slow thrust. They both groaned, loving the feeling of connection they had during these times. It was always a sharp surprise, Keith clawing forward against Lance’s skin and the carpet below, just needing something to hold.

“Fuck,” Lance moaned out, not able to resist as he moved himself upwards and further into Keith.

Keith’s muscles tightened and contracted, and Lance could feel the slight shivers running down Keith’s body as he thrusted back against Lance. It was too much and not enough all at once. So Lance steadied his feet on the ground, lifting up his hips and slamming upwards into Keith.

The other boy cried out, holding onto Lance tightly, whimpering into his sweaty hair.

“Ughh, oh fuck Lance, right there, Jesus Christ.” Keith turned his head, biting at Lance’s ear hard, breathing into the surface.

Lance moaned, and decided enough was enough. He rolled Keith onto the floor, hovering over him as he took what he needed. His boyfriend instantly took the tie he wore around his neck and pulled him down, forcing Lance into a heady kiss. Lance muffled his surprise, slowing the fast paced fuck into a tender moment. There was a tightness around his neck, making it hard to breathe as Keith continued to pull on the material, knowing exactly what he was doing to Lance.

Lance grinned and grabbed Keith’s wrists away from his tie, moving them over his head on the ground and forced them to stay in place. He held onto the skin with one hand tightly, while his other hand ran down Keith’ sides, over his sweaty chest, gracefully over the pink nipple before going downwards. Lance started moving his hips forward in little juts, moving slowly and deeply into his lover.

He just rocked, needing to only touch Keith’s skin and give attention to every little area. Keith’s legs wrapped around his bare torso, forcing Lance forward still, trying to get more, take more through his whines. But Lance stayed strong, watching Keith lose it underneath him. He could only watch in euphoria as Keith became undone.

And fuck, if it isn’t a pleasure to watch. He continued to restrain Keith’s wrist above, watching as he writhed against his hips and chest. He could tell that Keith is probably going to have rug burn by the end of this round, wouldn’t be the first time. 

Lance sighed, falling forward and dropping Keith’s wrists. He instead holds onto him tightly, now only focusing on chasing the heat and deep tightness inside. He knows he hits the spot when Keith shouts loudly and suddenly above him, his entrance and muscles completely contracting around Lance’s thick cock. Keith scrambles in his embrace, his legs jutting up and twitching around his hips.

“Did you like that, babe? Lance asked again with a hot laugh, thrusting a little harder into the same spot that has Keith seeing stars. No. Fuck that, he sees only white and his head tips back, following the ecstasy and trance Lance forced him into. The hot touches all over his skin begin to burn, the rug becoming a boiling heat beneath his backbone and ass. And god if Keith doesn’t love it.

He could only gasp, losing all sense of his words as he continued to shout out for Lance. The ahhs and ohhhhs and screams intensify, and he’s pretty sure he’s going to have a noise complaint but Jesus Christ does Lance deserve it and so much more for being the best damned boyfriend of the year. He plays Keith’s body like a damned musical instrument, striking every chord just perfectly and creating a fucking orchestrated symphony.

Keith hates him for it, feels that usual pool of heat start up. Keith’s a fucking mess as Lance continues to fuck into him slowly and tenderly, his hips only increasing in rhythm at a minimal pace. Lance bites and teases Keith’s neck.

“Oh, oh!” Keith shouted out, and Lances hand twitches over his sweaty skin.

“Fuck, Keith!” Lance screamed. He tightened his hold, thrusting forward suddenly and at a scary pace, needing to fuck those sounds out of Keith, hear his lover beg for him. He needs it, loves it, craves it, thrives on it. And Keith responds so well, does exactly as Lance wishes, begs, pleads, gives Lance just what he needs as Lance does to Keith. They’re a perfect balance. A power struggle of petty competitions and heated passion and friendly rivalry but they work perfectly because they’re the two sides of the same coin. 

They match.

And finally, when Lance can’t take it anymore, he shoots upwards. He places his hands firmly on Keith’s chest and slams into home, not able to stop himself anymore. Keith arches his back beautifully, being pumped full of Lance’s hot pulsating cock. And when he looks into Lance’s eyes, so loving and full of adoration, Keith lets go.

He screams, head whamming back onto the floor as he comes untouched. 

“Ugh, Keith, so fucking hot… fuck!” And Lance shoots his load bare into Keith, filling him up to the brim with his cum. He knows that Keith hates it, but the feeling of having his cum surround his softening dick inside Keith for just those few moments afterwards, it’s amazing. There is nothing else like it. And if there is, well Lance needs to damn well find it.

He falls forward heavily onto Keith, who he is pretty sure has blacked out from the pleasure. (Well, not really, they’re not at that stage quite yet, still too new and without that comfort that only comes from having years of experience beside each other. But it’ll happen one day, Lance is sure. He’s going to make it happen.)

Lance huffs, catching his breath with a laugh. He tightens his hold, watching Keith slowly come back to reality. They groan and shuffle around as Lance pulls out, the sensation overwhelming for both. He knows that they’ll both be sore and have bruises by the next morning, and Keith will probably be limping around, but he thinks that they both don’t really care about that right now, happy just to hold each other in the afterglow. 

“So… I’d say we’re ready for a shower now… wanna go for round two?”

Keith just stared at him, breathing heavily and with exhaustion. His eyes still filled with love, Keith turned to look at the present on the ground, all the hard work Lance had gone through to do this for just him, even leaving his own family on Christmas morning. 

And Keith lets out a whimpers at the thought, his heart somehow breaking happily as he turned back to Lance, needing to kiss him again, mutter out silent thanks yous and things he cant say out loud.

Sometimes it’s just too hard.

And with the feel of Lance’s lips around his own, Keith loses himself again.

 ***---***---***---*** 

“Hey, Lance?” Keith whispered out a while later. Lance’s arms wrapped tighter around his torso at the softly uttered sound. They sat on the carpeted one bedroom floor in their pathetic little living room, never seeming to have enough yet too much at the same time. They pulled a fluffy throw blanket over their naked bodies, laying next to the heater along the wall with the hot air going at full blast. Keith’s computer played the Burning Yule Log beside them on Youtube, while a random Christmas playlist of 8tracks sang out a Frank Sinatra hit.

“I think I know what I already want for next Christmas, if we’re still doing presents.” He confessed shyly, eyes still shut. Lance let out a breathy laugh, pressing a soft kiss to the back of Keith’s sweaty neck.

“Oh, so I’m with a gold-digger, huh? Just got one gift and now you want more? Hmmm.” Lance joked, tightening his hold around Keith’s body and he tried to tickle his sides. Keith, however, remained still, regarding the Yule Log with intensity.

“What is it?” Lance asked when he noticed how Keith didn’t respond.

It took a moment, but eventually the other boy turned around in his arms, the throw moving slightly and untucking from their bodies. Keith placed a hand against Lance’s chest, drawing random shapes and circles and things eerily close to hearts on his skin. Lance grabbed his moving hand, stopping the ongoing agitation.

“What is it?” Lance asked again softly, rubbing his thumb over the calloused knuckles.

Keith looked away sheepishly, obviously embarrassed. “Don’t get me wrong, this year was great. Perfect even.” He sighed with a hint of a smile. “Better then perfect. But, when I woke up, it was just like every other year. I thought it wasn’t anything special, and I didn’t want to admit it, but it hurt. I thought it’d just be another year of spending the Holidays by myself, without anyone there…. And I was really lonely.” Keith peaked out from behind his bangs, looking towards Lance who didn’t move a muscle as Keith spoke, fully intent on listening.

“So next year, if it’s alright, can that be my gift? I want to wake up with someone else there on Christmas morning…. I want to wake up next to you.”

From underneath the blanket, Lance dropped Keith’s hand and determinedly reached to palm his cheeks, forcing his boyfriends reddened lips to his own yet again. The song continued to sing on in the background, beginning it’s descent.

 _Won’t you please have snow  
_ _And mistletoe  
_ _And presents under the tree_

Lance was secretly already thinking of ways of one upping his surprise for next year as he continued to deepen the kiss. He moved over Keith, forcing him onto his back when Lance slotted between his legs. He continued to just hold and caress the other as he laid against his chest.

 _Christmas Eve will find me  
_ _Where the love light gleams_  

He thought Keith’s request over with a breathy sigh, a deep moan being drawn from himself as Keith playfully nipped at his lip with a smile.

 _I’ll be home for Christmas  
_ _If only in my dreams_

It wouldn’t be much of a surprise for a gift now with Keith expecting it. But he could agree to it. Agreeing to it would just mean agreeing to another year of laughs, of fights, of petty competitions, and perfect memories. It would be another year with Keith by his side. 

“Okay.” Lance whispered. “Okay.” He could agree to that.

**Author's Note:**

> I half wrote this because I wanted to write an xmas Klance fic, but honestly guys this year is going to be my first year not being home (I call it my first orphan christmas), and I wont be visiting my family at all. I'm terrified and so sad, so I used this fic as kind of a destresser, just get my own fears and emotions out in very strange and fun ways, haha.
> 
> But overall, thank you to everyone who made it this far! I'm sorry for any errors I may have missed during my multiple edits! Doubles are killing me, so if the writing isn't too great, I'm sorry, I really loved the idea and wanted to test it out but timing hasn't been the kindest. And hey, at least its the beginning of the holidays? Happy Holidays! :)
> 
> Ohhh! Some other fun facts: the question for Lance's exam at the beginning was not made up, I had it for an exam. It was terrible.
> 
> And lastly, these were the inspirations behind Allura's tree on Pinterest: 
> 
> https://www.pinterest.com/pin/484911084857014576/
> 
> https://www.pinterest.com/pin/401946335472387423/
> 
> Lance just didn't have enough time to make it perfect :'D Poor thing tried though! Happy Holidays everyone, thank you to everyone who gave this lengthy one-shot a read! it means the world to me :)


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